Lost Masterpiece: Karl Brown's Stark Love (introduction)

In 1927 Paramount sent a young filmmaker, Karl Brown, into Appalachian wilderness to shoot a cutting-edge docu-drama based on the lives of the mountain people.

Recently entered to the National Film Registry, Brown's film, Stark Love, was shot on location in North Carolina and featured "real people" rather than actors. Although highly praised for its spectacular cinematography and portrayals of mountain life, like many silent era movies Stark Love was destroyed by the studio shortly after its release. Fortunately, another young filmmaker, Kevin Brownlow, stumbled upon a copy in the Czech National Film Archive in Prague in 1968, while working on his own film about the Soviet invasion.

This clip is the introduction from our documentary that follows Karl Brown's journey from Hollywood to Robbinsville, North Carolina, in search of the story of the mountaineers. Writer/producer Dr. John White, along with director/cinematographer Craig Tollis, also tracked down and interviewed the descendants of the people who appeared in the original film.

A screening of Stark Love and the documentary, Lost Masterpiece, opened the 2009 Southern Appalachian International Film Festival in Bristol, Tennessee.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• documentary
• film
• appalachia
• history
• mountains
• north
• carolina
• paramount
• karl
• brown

[buddharbis]

Thank you for the message. We are editing new footage and we will keep you posted. At some point a DVD will be available and other public screenings will be planned. Additionally, we are in discussions with a major network for a national broadcast.

[fonkdasnyguh]

I was at Paramount for the viewing of stark love and Karl Brown's lost masterpiece. Great stuff. When will the documentary be finished and where can I catch it?